how big are the apts 7-9 in square feet? how many bedrooms and baths are there? the place look big for ordinary people, but for royalty the place is quite simple. do the apartments come with elevators?

Let's not forget that embassies and High Commissions are the property of the country who uses them not the property of the country in which they are situated so that if Kensington Palace was to become an embassy or High Commission of one or more countries it would cease to belong to Britain.

A lot of the embassies are still owned by the crown estate but the country takes over the free hold for a period of time etc- that is my understanding but I could be wrong. For instance Canada House and South Africa house are still still considered crown estate property. I believe that if Kensington Palace became an embassy that country wouldn't own the palace out right but rather it would be considered a "let". I strongly oppose having such a historic building being occupied by a foreign power, and I can hear the news on CNN " America now owns Kensington Palace - Diana's former home" - the thought makes me shudder. Even more troubling would be the fact that we would be denied access to one of our historic treasures.

I wonder if the US will be refunded the prepaid leasehold's annual rent when the Embassy moves...

one peppercorn a year, so that'd be about 900 or so peppercorns. Can the Duke of Westminster come up with that many peppercorns? LOL

As for the memory of those royals who have gone before, they will all be remembered (or discovered) as time marches on. An example is: It has been only recently that I have been discovering Queen Victoria.

I was wondering where minor members of the BRF will go if Kensington Palace becomes a full-fledged museum?
I mean, they can't all cram into St. James, can they?

I doubt that Duke of Gloucester and Duke of Kent will be asked to leave the palace. Even Prince Michael was not asked to leave, but he had to pay rent of 10,000 GBP/month. That sum required him to sell his summer home.

The question is whether the next generation will be permitted to move into the apartments. If so, who among the next generation. The heirs to the current residents, or Princess Beatrice, Eugenie. Or what about Prince Harry once he marries.

I believe that the apartments in St. James are very small. Suitable for changing clothes and crashing on occasion, but not for entertaining.

As far as I know, floor plans and square footage, are not released publicly.

The Lodge belonging to Prince Andrew, the home for Prince Edward and Thatched House belonging to Princess Alexandra are on long term leases (over 100 years).

I don't know what the official residence of William and Catherine will be once he is through with military service. Maybe they think that by then the Queen will have died, and it will be Clarence House.

This informative video shows the publicly accessible parts of Kensington Palace. I found the footage of both the gardens and Queen Victoria's childhood bedroom the most interesting especially since I (finally!) watched "The Young Victoria" the other day :)

In the current Vanity Fair it says that Kensington Palace is a likely candidate for Prince William's and Catherine's future home. It says that Diana's apartment, where William and Harry grew up, is going under a 12 million pounds refurbishment. It also says that Catherine took a look at Princess Margaret's apartment, and loved it!

Here is what I know about apartment 1A.

Apartment 1A in Kensington Palace was originally apartment 1, and was the largest of all the apartment's in KP. From 1875-1939 it was the home of Queen Victoria's daughter Princess Louise and her husband the marquess of Lorne, later the Duke of Argyle. After Princess Louise's death in 1939 at the age of 91, the apartment was occupied by Princess Marina, Duchess of Kent. Princess Marina found the apartment far too vast, so in the 1950's the ministry of works split the apartment in two, Marina taking the smaller portion. The other half, 1A stayed vacant until Princess Margaret and her husband Anthony Armstrong Jones came along.
The apartment needed to be completly gutted, there was extensive damage due to dry rot etc. Again the ministry of works were called in to do the job. The apartment was remodeled in the regency style with the designs by the couple's friends, set decorators I believe.
The apartment has 21-35 rooms, depending on the source. I've heard both.
The main rooms include a large and spacious hall that goes along the whole front of the apartment. The main drawing room. A vast room featuring five bays (floor to celing windows). One of the windows opened onto a court which in Princess Louise's day was an art studio. Princess Louise was a prominent sculptress, and her bust of Queen Victoria is still in KP. After the drawing room was a small room, followed by the broad oak main staircase.
After the staircase there are several steps down and there is a lovely garden room. Apparently it's lovely, I've never been there. The garden room has three windows looking out onto the gardens. One of the windows has a door, which in princess Louise's day was bricked over, apparently the door was used by the Duke to meet his lovers!!!. The garden room had in Margaret's day a lage collection of sea shells which was supposed to be one of the best collections in Britain.
As I understand the layout of the main rooms, the drawing room sits between the dining room and library.
Apartment 1A is also the only apartment in KP that has it's own private garden. Princess Margaret use to sunbathe in it.

I have before and after pictures of apartment 1A, but my scanner is messed up, and when I scan/post the pictures end up upside down.

From what I've read, I thought the apartments once used by the late Princess Margaret were opened to the public. Is it possible for William and Catherine to live there? Or do you mean that they decided to take over the Diana's apartment in part because Catherine found Princess Margaret's former apartment so enchanting?

Hello Vasillisos!
Good question. I really don't know. The VF article was rather vague. All it said was that Diana's apartment is undergoing renovation, (it was split in two after her death), and that Catherine visited Princess Margaret's apartment and loved it. Thats no suprise, Princess Margaret's apartment is supposedly the one of the largest if not the largest and the most beautiful. Plus it has the only private garden of all the apts in KP.
And yes I was under the understanding that it was open to the public, so who knows.
Remember one thing, Princess Margaret was still alive when Charles and Diana married, so her apt was unavailable. Now that she has passed away it's free now. When I saw the photos of the interior of Charles and Diana's apartment, I was not impressed, it looked kind of pokey and cramped.
Pr. Margaret had a far superior residence. IMHO.

Thank you for this information. Very interesting. And I agree with you -- from what I have read, Margaret's apartments were the largest of the bunch. It seems Marina thought the apartments were too large and maybe she could not afford the upkeep, so she elected to split them and take the smaller. I would love to see more photographs of the interior. It looks fabulous.

Hey Vasillisos,
Yes I really would like to scan the before and after photos I have.
Let me play around with my scanner. It is not working, or perhaps more likely human (my) error.
Do you know who occupies Pr. Marina's apt at present? I'm thinking since it was a small apt it would have been the offices of Princess Margaret.
I think the Gloucester's apartment is adjacent or close to Pr. Margaret's apt, but from what I understand it's almost as large as Margaret's. So it couldn't be Pr. Marina's.